Wow! I’m Good!
Problem: Despite years of experience, attendance at numerous training programs, and coaching from sales managers, many salespeople still fail to elevate their performance above mediocre levels.
Analysis: Numerous factors can influence performance, but the most overlooked is attitude – how we feel about ourselves. Unfortunately, our attitude about ourselves, our self-image (self-confidence or self-perception) is influenced by our performance in our daily activities. And because our successes are frequently offset by disappointments, our self-image can seem like a roller coaster. This can cause an up and down performance in our roles, as you might imagine. You say to yourself, “Can I do it?” Some days the answer is “yes” and some days it’s “no.” The key is to get your self-image raised to the point where the victories vastly outnumber the defeats.
Solution: Think of any activity that you perform that you’re really good at. It can be a sport, public speaking, cooking, organizing or anything. What is it that makes you so good at it? Is it your training, the tools you use or the experience you’ve accumulated doing it? It could be all of these things, in varying degrees, but something else as well. Your attitude, your approach, the sense of confidence and purpose, the commitment you bring to the activity is what people observe when they say you are “good at it.”
Witness the athlete who makes the play so effortlessly, the actress who delivers her lines flawlessly. The athlete does so not because of any superhuman qualities, but because he has practiced and practiced, the actress because she has internalized the part. There is no longer any conscious effort required to make it happen. This is the difference between “knowing” it and “owning” it. Those who “own” it are at the very pinnacle of their professions.
When you marvel at the way someone makes a brilliant impromptu speech or plays a beautiful song on the piano without music you are marveling at the same thing – the approach, the confidence, the naturalness of the behavior. There was no time to think, no time to prepare, no time to hesitate. They just did it!
It all starts with a desire to accomplish something, then believing that you can do it, learning how it’s done, practicing, practicing, and then practicing some more, until finally you don’t even have to think about it – it just happens. You “own” it. But that takes commitment.
How good are you? How good do you want to be? Are you committed?
